The most popular use of free time by people in the United States is as participant or spectator of games or sports. Whether playing backyard volleyball, billiards, or ping pong, attending a game between professional athletic teams, or attending a soccer game between four year olds, it is difficult to escape the presence of sports and games in our society.
Among the games and sports played at home, there are a number of table top games with well known specialized equipment that are played according to well known rules. Many of those games are played competitively, some even played professionally by very skilled players. Billiards, air hockey and table tennis, for example, are played in many homes, but there are also high stakes, professional billiards tournaments and international Olympic level table tennis tournaments that are of global interest.
Competitive sports, on the other hand, such as volleyball, basketball, tennis and racquetball, are typically played in large, gymnasium sized facilities or on large outdoor courts. In addition to being played in a different venue, sports generally involve more physical, athletic components of running, jumping, hitting or throwing than table top games played at home, which typically require hand-eye coordination, but little or no high exertion athletic running, jumping, hitting or throwing.
In the era of being healthy and physically fit, where the health benefits of participating in high exertion, physically demanding sports are well known as a way to stay healthy and physically fit, there is ample motivation to devise a physically demanding sport that may be played by most active persons but which incorporates many of the beneficial attributes a table top game played at home. A competitive and physically demanding sport that can be played at home will be advantageous over a home workout of aerobics or weightlifting to those that consider competitive sports and games more fun than a regimented workout.
It is desirable to provide a table top based game that incorporates more physical, athletic components than existing table top games, such as billiards and table tennis, but one that does not require a large facility such as a gymnasium to be played. The present invention addresses this need by providing a table top sport that is physically demanding, combining aspects of volleyball, handball, dodge ball and table tennis, while still being played on an elevated playing surface within the confines of a garage or basement in a typical home.
It is also desirable to provide a physically demanding table top sport with relatively simple equipment that may be transported from venue to venue. It is specifically contemplated that the present invention can be played by placing the table top courts on grass, asphalt, sand, pavement, hardwood and synthetic surfaces and that it may be played indoors or outdoors.
The present invention, one embodiment of which is gaining popularity under the name HANTIS®, is distinguishable from prior art table top games in that it combines team play aspects between a multiple player team, similar to volleyball wherein teams comprising between two and six players pass and set between teammates to set up “spike” or “kill” shots. The present invention, however, is played with a ball smaller than a volleyball and on an elevated table top playing surface, similar to ping pong. However, the ball is generally the size and weight of a tennis ball, much larger and heavier than a ping pong ball, and the elevated table top playing surface is of a more heavy duty construction than a standard table tennis set to withstand the more demanding athletic play of running, jumping and diving players that are hitting a tennis ball sized projectile instead of a ping pong ball. The table tops of the present invention must withstand “spikes” or “kill” shots that are hit with force down onto the playing surface, as well as being able to withstand player collisions. A full appreciation of the athletic nature of the present invention, as well as the need for heavy duty table top surfaces, may be derived by viewing video available at the present inventor's website at www.hantis.net.
The equipment of the present invention includes a hollow, pressurized ball and, in the most preferred embodiment, four separate playing surfaces arranged and spaced apart to accommodate two opposing two-player teams. However, as set forth in more detail in the Detailed Description that follows, other numbers of teams and players are contemplated such that deviation from two opposing two-player teams does not deviate from the principles of the present invention. The playing surfaces are designed to allow players to attack the opposing team's courts to set up for a “kill” shot, similar to a spike in volleyball. The playing surfaces are constructed from sufficiently heavy gauge materials to withstand repeated “kill” shots and player collisions into the playing surfaces. Both the playing surface itself and the supporting structure must be of heavier, sturdier construction than a conventional table tennis set and designed to withstand a more athletic sport played with a heavier ball.
The rules of the present invention game set forth in more detail herein combine, in addition to volleyball and table tennis, aspects of handball and dodge ball because a player may elect, instead of playing a shot directly at the other team's playing surfaces, to be off of a wall or directly at the opponent, whereupon the opponent must return it or dodge the ball. The rules provide that a shot that hits an opponent's body without hitting a table top or the ground is a live shot that must be returned; if it is not successfully returned, the team hitting the “body shot” receives a point.
The elevated playing surfaces of the present invention are also provided with tilt adjustment so that the table tops can be inclined at an angle. By adjusting the table top angle, the angle of incidence at which the ball strikes the table top will change, so the reflective angle, and time in which the defender has to return the shot, changes. That is, a very hard and flatly struck “kill” shot will bounce up at a greater angle, giving the defender a greater opportunity to return it, than if the table top had been flat, i.e. parallel to ground.
The equipment of the present invention comprises the ball and playing surfaces mentioned above for use with an athletic, physically demanding sport wherein players use speed, agility and strength to run, jump and strategically strike the ball in a way that prevents the opponent from returning it. In terms of its physically demanding nature, the present invention is similar to volleyball, dodgeball and racquetball/handball, but as far as the equipment and venue necessary to play, it resembles table tennis. In one specific aspect of the present invention, the heavy duty table top playing surfaces comprise rigid, stable supporting structure that is collapsible to make the playing surfaces portable. Such a playing surface design, along with rules allowing players to strike the ball from anywhere, results in a fun and athletic sport wherein an infinite number of plays and shots are possible.